Female sun conure protecting another female's eggs

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Female sun conure protecting another female's eggs

We have two sun conures. Both have been DNA sexed to be females. Our 4-year old just laid her first egg. Our 2-yr old was extremeley protective of her and the egg when I discovered it this morning. She was getting all fluffed up and "hissing" at me. (This behavior is normally displayed by our 4-yr old in response to our dogs.) Is it normal behavior for a female to protect another female's eggs? It seems more like male behavior to us.

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Female sun conure protecting another female's eggs

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Sep 07, 2011

Female sun conure protecting another female's eggs
by: Linda

Yes, this is normally the male's job to protect both the hen and her eggs. However, if you had DNA sexing done, there should be no question as to sex of the 2 year old. Males have a courtship dance and usually a song that goes along with it. If you've seen none of this behavior, then your 2 year old is female.

Possibly, she just feels protective of her friend and is simply being loyal. All birds become different when eggs are present with or without breeding with a male. They more or less revert back to their wild roots considering all parrots are exotic will animals and not domesticated now or probably ever.

Just be understanding of this behavior or separate them if you see any aggression toward the 4 year old or attempting to break any eggs.

I think this will pass and is a bit on the sweet side as well.

Thanks for writing,
Linda

Sep 07, 2011

Female guarding another hen's eggs
by: Tracie

I am not a breeder, so hopefully Linda will see this and be able to answer this. I do want to encourage you to read the Chronic Egg Laying article for more information on caring for birds that lay eggs.

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